Ken Ham Says There Are No Intelligent Aliens

This is stuff we’ve written about before, but it may be the first article on the topic written by Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the ayatollah of Appalachia, the world’s holiest man who knows more about religion and science than everyone else.

Hambo’s article is Do I Believe in UFOs? Absolutely! It’s a copy of something that first appeared at Hambo’s website on 05 December 2007, before we began this humble blog, so although he’s repeated some of this material since then, it should be fun to see how it all began. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us, and Hambo’s numerous bible references omitted:

Is there intelligent life in outer space? Although this question intrigues scientists, theology can give us the answer.

That’s the first sentence, and it’s a gem. Think about it. There is no need for telescopes, or sending probes out there to look around. Science is a big waste of time. All you need is theology. Then he says:

A number of leading evolutionists, like the late Dr. Carl Sagan, have popularized the idea that there must be intelligent life in outer space. From an evolutionary perspective, it would make sense to suggest such a possibility. People who believe this possibility contend that, if life evolved on earth by natural processes, intelligent life must exist somewhere else in the far reaches of space, given the size of the universe and the millions of possible planets.

Those people are godless fools! Let’s read on:

One can postulate endlessly about possibilities of intelligent life in outer space, but I believe a Christian worldview, built on the Bible, rejects such a possibility.

Hambo’s worldview rejects that possibility because, as we’ve said before, the bible was written by people who had no idea that there were any other worlds. Earth was all they knew, so they assumed it was the only world in existence, created for us in the center of what seemed to be a rather limited universe, consisting of only the Sun and the Moon, with the stars as lights set in a presumably solid firmament rotating around us, just below the glorious realm of Yahweh, from which he could look down upon us and receive our adoration. That’s how Hambo likes it. He continues:

During the six days of creation in Genesis 1, we learn that God created the earth first. On Day Four He made the sun and the moon for the earth, and then “he made the stars also.” From these passages of Scripture it would seem that the earth is very special — it is center stage. Everything else was made for purposes relating to the earth. For instance, the sun, moon, and stars were made “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”

Yup — that’s all there is to it. After some more bible quotes, Hambo tells us:

Such verses certainly imply that the earth is to be considered separate and special when compared with the rest of the universe, so they suggest that the earth alone was created for life. So far, based on man’s limited exploration of space and the solar system, this certainly holds true.

Not quite. As we reported in Oh No! Still More Planets Found, of more than 3,000 verified extra-solar planets found so far, at least 21 are Earth-like planets that orbit within their star’s habitable zone. Here’s more from Hambo:

But there is a theological reason that I believe rules out the possibility of intelligent life in outer space. The Bible makes it clear in Romans 8:22 that the “whole creation groans” because of Adam’s sin. When Adam fell, the entire universe was affected. Not only this, but one day in the future, there will be “a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.”

What does that have to do with intelligent aliens? Hambo explains:

Now here is the problem. If there are intelligent beings on other planets, then they would have been affected by the fall of Adam because the whole creation was affected. So these beings would have to die because death was the penalty for sin. One day their planet will be destroyed by fire during God’s final judgment, but they cannot have salvation because that blessing is given only to humans.

[…]

But note, Jesus didn’t become a “God-Klingon,” a “God-Vulcan,” or a “God-Cardassian — He became the God-man. It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved.

Tough luck for the aliens! Near the end, Hambo leaves himself a little wiggle-room:

Now, regarding animal life and plants, we cannot be so dogmatic because the Bible does not state whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. Based on the passages about the heavens and earth, however, I strongly suspect that life does not exist elsewhere.

But note, Jesus didn’t become a “God-Klingon,” a “God-Vulcan,” or a “God-Cardassian — He became the God-man. It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved.

Well, if we’re going to play the Star Trek card, what about the “Bread and Circuses” episode, where Kirk’s crew finds a replica Roman Empire ruling an earthlike world and it’s revealed that that planet also had a Jesus figure?

Writing that the Sun is for signs and seasons indicates just how little the authors of the bible understood science. The Sun heats the Earth, drives wind currents and ocean currents as well as the hydrological cycle. Photons from the Sun make photosynthesis possible which is the foundation of life on Earth. You would think that if the bible had any value as a source of information about science it would have mentioned these things.

“All creation” is about as specific and all-encompassing as someone saying ‘everybody’. When I say ‘everybody’, I don’t literally mean every single living human being. For Hambo to extend ‘all creation’ to the rest of the universe that wasn’t known at the time, he’s a ding dong.

Ham’s prediction or interpretation, based on the bible, is subject to testing, just as are the predictions made by science.

A major difference between the two is that the hypotheses and theories of science are subject to disproof by real-world evidence. In other words, if scientific hypotheses or theories end up making wrong predictions, the underlying assumptions have to be rethought or the hypotheses and/or theories have to be discarded.

Religious interpretations and predictions are not subject to disproof by real-world evidence. Religious interpretations and predictions that are disproved when tested against real-world evidence are not discarded when disproved as they are not based on real-world evidence to start with! If the predictions do not come to pass, they are just recycled, or repeated to a more accepting audience, or quietly made to have never happened. [That’s those creationists who believe that stuff, but our interpretation is god’s TRVE word.]

Dogma, scripture, and belief are the primary factors at work for creationists, rather than evidence. And this is why creation “science” is the exact opposite of real science.

…Everything else was made for purposes relating to the earth. For instance, the sun, moon, and stars were made “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”

Everything?

When will Hambo honestly address the fact that virtually all of the known universe is invisible to the naked eye? And the fact that we will never, even with future technological advances, be able to observe every star in the universe.

What sort of “signs” were those stars made for? What purpose related to the earth does the rest of the universe serve?

One day their planet will be destroyed by fire during God’s final judgment…

So the trillions of trillions of planets throughout the universe will spontaneously erupt in flames when God finally gives up on humans? (I can imagine God, if he were real, reading that and thinking wtf?)

Well, it is obvious that in the YEC Adventure Cultutcampf (TM) researchers have come up snake eyes on the SITL–the search for intelligent terrestrial life.

And please note that while Adam his dastardly virago of a partner, Eve, committed the UNPARDONABLE SIN of gaining knowledge, ol’ Hamster never acknowledges that the damned duo ACHIEVED that which he and his ilk so humbly seek through the loving, mysterious guidance courtesy of “He is who is” (and that’s what it is, can you dig it?) which is conveniently beyond question.

One more question while I’m paving my personal express lane to the “Fire and Brimstone heathen spa and rejuvenation center–of HELL!!”: Why would Soul Deity No. 1, the most righteously creatin’ mother–shut your mouth! But I’m just talkin’ bout YAHWEH! Aw, then we can dig it!–make his Main Man Adam a woman who would betray him? When he–that all-knowing you kmow what–MUST have known Eve was gonna do him wrong something wicked, on the Eschatological tip. Why would the uber-lovin’ creator create a situation built for Adam to fail? Sounds like a cruel, petty, passive-aggressive gawd to me.

“It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved.”

Ha! Nice try! Since when has Ham’s invisible friend been shy about killing the innocent? And why the Hell couldn’t the sort of all-powerful, His-ways-are-mysterious God this idiot believes in just preserve the aliens the same way he saves human souls?